Christmas, Day 5: Sharp Contrast
by RandomPersonaFanatic
Summary: The two stand in sharp contrast, and yet, they manage to find peace.


I procrastinated and barely missed the mark. Sorry about that. At least it still "technically" counts if its a few minutes late, right?

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 **Christmas, Day 5: Sharp Contrast**

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It was all in sharp contrast. The white clashed against the black, and yet, they appeared to be in perfect harmony. It appeared to be the work of gods, and, indeed, it was.

And so, when the snow began to fall, the white on the buildings turned into a deep black, waiting to be covered by the falling snowflakes.

To Kcalb's surprise, Etihw had once again outdone themself this year. The snow piled tall enough that he could barely see the horns and halos of his colleagues as they attempted to make their way through it. The snowstorm had died down, and all that remained was a light snowfall, chilling those who managed to stay above the six feet of snow with their wings.

He stepped into the courtyard. Snow appeared to barely be blanketing the area, as per Kcalb's annual request. It was deep enough that it looked tranquil and untouched, but it was light enough that his footsteps reached the marble floor without any extra effort on his part. He had to pity Etihw for the work they went through to make this possible, but at the same time, he knew that creating this snow didn't require any extra concentrations. The strongest blizzards could be made with only a few exceptionally powerful sentences.

As he opened the main gate to leave, a barrage of snowballs flew his way. Within seconds, the Devil was buried under a comically large pile of snow, with only his horns visible. He pushed his head out, shaking his head to rid it of the snow as he glared at the delinquents.

"Sorry, old man!" Yosafire yelled from afar. "Lady Etihw's orders!"

The green-haired demon, accompanied by her three friends, ran off and left Kcalb to escape from his icy prison on his own. As his hands, along with everything under his shoulders, were stuck under the white mass. He had been struggling for a few minutes, unable to escape, when a familiar figure's shadow loomed over him.

"So, what do we have here?" Etihw asked teasingly. They leaned in and tapped him on the nose, grinning mischievously.

"Just help me get out of here," the Devil grumbled. He had finally been able to wiggle his hands free from the snow but left them in, playing along with Etihw. "Or are you just going to stand there and let me freeze?"

Etihw put a hand up to their chin, pretending to be deep in thought. "Hrm... But why should I? I can make you blush redder than the sunset, you know. And you'd still look better than anything I could ever create."

At the last comment, Kcalb could feel the heat crawling up his neck. He moved his vision so he wouldn't be facing the God as they spoke up. "You know, there are so many things I could do, and you wouldn't be able to stop any of it now, would you?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Kcalb could see Etihw leaning in further, closing their eyes as they did so. He pulled out one of his hands, which held a tightly compacted snowball, and held it up to their lips. The God recoiled back due to the icy shock, spitting out the snow that had gotten into their mouth. The Devil pulled himself out of the mound of snow, brushing the snow off his shoulders as it collapsed into the hole he had just crawled out of. He straightened his back and looked up at the snowing skies before suddenly bending down in a powerful sneeze. He pulled out a handkerchief and sneezed into it a second time, then a third, then a fourth, as Etihw watched in amusement.

"Scratch that," he thought to himself between his sneezes. "They're dying of laughter right now."

Annoyed, Kcalb walked around the pile of snow and back into the castle. He had walked up a full flight of stairs before he realized that Etihw was tailing him. In a single, swift motion, he turned around, only for Etihw duck into the nearby corridor. Though he glimpsed the end of their long, white cloak, he played along, heading up another flight of stairs and into the library. There, he hid behind the corner leading to the door, waiting for the God to walk inside. To his surprise, a voice whispered into his ear, causing him to jump. "You didn't really think you'd be able to scare me like that, did you?"

The Devil grumbled something and pulled up a chair from a nearby table, peeved by his failure. Etihw, who had been laying down mid-air, sat in the seat across from Kcalb. The God put their hands together under their chin, staring at Kcalb as he pulled out a random book from a random shelf, flipping to a random page and flipping the pages at random intervals of time. After a few minutes of unnerving staring and the occasional sneeze, the Devil set down his book. "What do you want?" he asked, peeved.

"A kiss?"

Kcalb blushed, putting the book back up to cover his face. "That's a bit too direct," he mumbled under his breath.

"Can't a God get what they ask for?"

A tinge of melancholy in the God's voice made the Devil feel more guilty than he should have. Knowing he was falling into yet another trap, he sneezed before sighing. "How about we get Wodahs to make another hotpot tonight?"

The God smiled happily. "Yeah, that's a good idea. But why don't we try to cook...?"

Kcalb shook his head, cringing as a memory resurfaced. "Erm, I'd rather not."

Etihw cocked her head and stared even harder at him, oblivious to his reaction to the mention of cooking food. "Why not? It'd be a good bonding experi-"

The Devil set down his book. "I have some work to attend to, as I was- achoo!- as I was saying. I'll be seeing you later tonight."

The two stood up in unison, with Etihw reaching the door before Kcalb did. "What do you want now?" he asked, sneezing immediately after he finished his sentence. To his surprise, the God appeared to be on the verge of breaking down.

"Why are you so distant to me these days?" they asked. Kcalb could feel the sweat roll down his neck as the guilt crept its way through his bloodstream. "You haven't been acting normal. Was it something I said?"

Kcalb groaned, putting a hand on his face. "It's nothing like that. The snow is just an eyesore, then I get tired actually trying to see."

Etihw gasped. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I could have changed the snow to black or something! Wait, I'll just-"

As the God turned to leave, Kcalb grabbed onto their arm, shaking his head. "Don't. I got my fair share of 'black snow' from the war."

Etihw nodded in understanding.

So there, the two parted ways for the day. One, carefree as can be, and the other, careful and haunted by his past. Very different from each other, and yet, there seems to be a middle ground where all things grey. After all, this story is in the garden where the two mix, yet still manage to stand in sharp contrast.


End file.
